pulses can drive from here
by KelseyO
Summary: "There is one other option," Carmilla says, her voice a bit lower and smoother than it's been, and Laura swallows. "One that wouldn't require me to leave the room." "And, um, what would that be?" Laura asks too tightly. "I think you already know the answer to that." (In which the blood stash runs out and a new option is evaluated. Structured as eps 20-22. Originally posted on AO3.)
1. Episode 20

Three parts, structured to represent episodes 20, 21, and 22. Title from "400 Lux" by Lorde. Laura/Carmilla/Danny. Originally posted on AO3.

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(20)

"So, I have some good news, and I have some bad news," Laura announces to the camera, and it's hard to decide if Carmilla looks better or worse than she did the last time as she glares at approximately everything in her line of vision. "The good news is, Carmilla's been far more cooperative than I anticipated, and with the plethora of new information she's offered—to be discussed in a later webcast, of course—things are actually starting to make some sense around here," she says with a satisfied smile that then stalls a bit. "The bad news is… we're out of blood."

Carmilla blinks and sits up straighter. "We're _what_?"

Laura winces and glances cautiously over her shoulder. "That mug you just finished may or may not have been the last refill."

"And you thought it information more pertinent to your Internet audience than to _me_, your starving, vampiric roommate?"

"Well, when you put it like _that_…" Carmilla tilts her head back exasperatedly and Laura is out of her chair in an instant. "Oh no, a-are you okay?"

"No," Carmillla groans, "I'm being held captive by someone who's more likely to kill me by accident than on purpose."

Laura sinks back into her seat, hands clasped tightly in her lap. "But are you… y'know. _Okay_?"

Carmilla takes a deep breath. "I'm fine for now," she says quietly, "but that last drink was hours ago and things might get ugly again if I don't have more soon." She wets her lips and glances at Laura through long eyelashes. "Maybe it's a wild stab in the dark, but I'm assuming you still don't trust me enough to go get something to eat?"

"Not a chance."

She sighs. "Well…"

Laura looks anxious. "Well, what?"

"There _is_ one other option," Carmilla says, her voice a bit lower and smoother than it's been, and Laura swallows. "One that wouldn't require me to leave the room."

"And, um, what would that be?" Laura asks too tightly.

"I think you already know the answer to that."

Laura's eyes go blank for a long moment, as if she's mentally speed-watching every _Dracula_ adaptation, every episode of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ she's ever seen, and now she's chewing the inside of her cheek. "Just—" She clears her throat. "Just a snack?"

The corner of Carmilla's mouth curls into the tiniest smirk. "Just a snack."

Laura nods, then nods some more, then clears her throat again. "Just a snack," she repeats.

"Why are you feeling so charitable all of a sudden?" Carmilla asks with an arched eyebrow.

"I mean…" Laura shrugs. "I've subjected you to a week and a half of interrogation spawned by apparently false accusations, and yet you've still held up your end of the deal and actually explained yourself. I think I sort of owe you."

"Fascinating," Carmilla puts maybe a little too much effort into deadpanning. "Any chance you're going to untie me for this?"

"Hell no."

Carmilla shrugs. "Fair enough. But that means _you're_ gonna have to come over _here_."

Laura carefully pushes away from her desk so her chair rolls a few inches closer to Carmilla, but even as Carmilla's gaze drops to her wrist, Laura reaches up and moves her hair to drape over one shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Carmilla asks, sounding reluctantly confused.

"This will go a lot faster if you use my neck. And it'll be easier to cover up the, um. The marks."

"Smart," she replies, though her mind is clearly elsewhere as she watches Laura's carotid artery like a hawk zeroing in on a mouse. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

Laura nods, squeezes her eyes shut, and waits.

Carmilla leans in slowly, smirking when Laura tenses purely upon feeling the hot breath against her skin, and then lips press against flesh. Laura visibly tenses but takes a steadying breath and maybe even shifts a fraction more toward Carmilla.

"You can just do it, you know. I have a surprisingly high pain tolerance. Unless you're already biting me… Does your saliva contain some sort of anesthetic property that—?" She pauses in midsentence when Carmilla's mouth drifts up a few inches. "Okay, I'm sort of…" The lips are at the corner of her jaw now. "Confused…" There's a gentle nip at her earlobe and her eyes snap open just in time for her to watch Carmilla press their mouths together for a single long, deep kiss.

When Carmilla pulls away, Laura is breathing a lot heavier than she was a second ago and she actually looks a bit dazed. "What was that for?" she asks breathlessly.

"To get your blood flowing," Carmilla replies with a smirk before going for Laura's neck again, and this time Laura makes a tiny sound.

There are muffled slurping noises and even a few content moans, and after a few long moments, Laura grips Carmilla's shoulder.

"So, how long does this usually take?" No response. "We agreed this was a snack, remember? I am friend, not food." Now she taps Carmilla on the arm a few times. "You're not actually eating me, right?"

The continued silence prompts her to glance at her phone—sitting on her desk, just out of reach.

"_Right_?"


	2. Episode 21

(21)

"You _what_?"

"I think it's important to focus on the bigger picture here," Laura says, holding up her hands to steady Danny, who kind of looks like she wants to punch her in the face. "She could have easily drained me dry and broken free, but she didn't. She _stopped_, which means we can trust her, which is why I let her go on a quick undead grocery run."

Danny buries her face in her hands and takes a deep breath. "It wasn't another seduction-eyes thing, was it? Because if she's forcing you to do stuff like this, I swear I'll—"

"Get yourself another black eye?"

"I told you, it's fine." She shrugs. "A few bruises are worth it, if it means you're safe."

Laura shakes her head. "But I don't want you putting yourself in harm's way for—"

"You want to talk about putting ourselves in harm's way?" Danny interrupts, and this might be the most upset Laura's ever seen her. "You let her _bite_ you! You let her drink your freaking _blood_. I'm not even entirely convinced she isn't trying to turn you into… into one of her."

Laura covers Danny's hand with her own. "I'm okay, I promise. I would tell you if it were otherwise."

She sighs. "Alright, will you at least let me look at the bite marks? I want to make sure nothing's infected or oozing creepy ha-ha-you're-a-vampire-now pus."

Laura rolls her eyes but still moves her hair out of the way and rotates in her chair a little so Danny can lean in and examine her neck, and when she flinches at the first touch of fingertips Danny's eyebrows pull together in concern. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

Laura shakes her head again. "No! You're fine. It was just—you're fine."

"It was just what?" Danny asks quietly, ghosting the pad of her thumb along the pair of puncture marks.

"Nothing. How does it look?"

"Like a vampire bit you," she grumbles, and now her thumb is joined by the rest of her fingers, until she's not so much tracing the bite as she is just kind of holding Laura in place. "Did it hurt?"

Laura shrugs. "It, uh..." Her voice cracks and she clears her throat. "It's not the worst thing I've ever felt," she says carefully, trying her best to look Danny in the eye.

"Would you do it again if she asked you to?"

"Why are you so—wait, is this a _jealousy_ thing?"

Danny balks. "What? No, of course not. Why would I be—? No, that's... no."

Laura crosses her arms. "Danny Lawrence, you are a terrible liar."

"And you, Laura Hollis, are an incredibly stupid... brave," she adds reluctantly, "idiot."

Now Laura arches her eyebrow playfully. "You're an English TA and that's the best you could come up with?"

"Shut up," is Danny's brilliant reply, and she still hasn't taken her hand back. "Just... hey," she says, shifting her palm so she's cupping Laura's cheek, and tilts her head until Laura's looking her in the eye. "Promise me you won't do anything too dangerous. I know how important this Nancy Drew stuff is to you, but it's gonna take years off my life if you keep risking your physical wellbeing, slash _life_, to solve the mystery."

Laura swallows. "Years, huh?"

"Just be careful, okay?" They might be a little closer to each other than they were a second ago. "I'd be devastated if..." She nibbles her bottom lip rather than finishing the sentence.

"Yeah?" Laura asks quietly.

Danny nods. "Yeah."

Laura catches herself looking at Danny's mouth and forces her eyes back up, but then Danny's eyes are on _her_ mouth, so maybe it doesn't really matter.

"Devastated, huh?" she repeats and wets her lips.

"Shut up," Danny repeats, then leans in and kisses her firmly, but pulls away after a short moment. "I'm sorry, that was—" she starts, letting her hand drop from Laura's cheek, only to have Laura scoop it back up and return it to its previous position.

The next kiss happens an instant later and involves open mouths and a hand buried in Laura's hair, then Danny taking Laura by the hips and pulling her into her lap and both of them nearly falling over in the process; Danny reaches out and braces them against the edge of Laura's bed, and once they've rebalanced, Laura's fingers find the buttons of Danny's flannel shirt and make quick work of the first few as their lips meet again and again.

She pauses midway down, glances over her shoulder at the camera, and hits the "end recording" button.


	3. Episode 22

(22)

Laura is all but swimming in Danny's flannel shirt, and her hair is just a little messier than usual, and even when Carmilla returns looking rather sour, the small grin on Laura's face doesn't falter.

"Ooh, good, you're just in time!" Laura announces. "I'm about to start recapping all the information you gave me today, for all of the lovely viewers who have been _patiently_ waiting to hear about what's really going on at Silas University."

Carmilla stuffs her plastic bag full of god knows what unceremoniously into the mini-fridge. "You're awfully chipper for a Wednesday night," she mutters.

Laura frowns and swivels her chair to face Carmilla. "And you're awfully moody for someone who just returned from their furlough. What, did they not have your favorite blood type or something?"

"Yes, actually," she grumbles.

"Oh. I'm… sorry to hear that," Laura says, turning back to the camera as Carmilla pours herself a cup, downs several long gulps, then wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Whatever. Now, do you need a moment to summon the Scooby gang so you all can force me back into captivity, or are you feeling brave enough to try it on your own?"

Laura opens her mouth and closes it again, then shrugs. "I think we can agree that the restraints aren't all that necessary anymore. Assuming I can still trust you, that is."

The expression on Carmilla's face is too genuine to be a smirk. "And somehow you continue to surprise me," she murmurs as she grabs Laura's yellow pillow and brings it to her own bed. She curls up and reaches for her book, but then pauses and sniffs the fabric and narrows her eyes. "Do anything fun while I was away?"

"What?" Laura blurts, focusing carefully on the notes in front of her. "Nope, no fun here. Just plain old boring investigative journalism." She clears her throat. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," Carmilla says softly, casually, keeping her eyes on her book. "I just could've sworn you were wearing a different shirt before."

Laura glances down at herself as if she'd forgotten what she was wearing. "Uh… yeah, I, um… spilled some cocoa. Had to change."

Carmilla nods and turns the page. "Did you spill some on your pillow, too? It smells different."

"Yep," Laura manages, nodding quickly. "Stupid, clumsy me."

"Did you wash it with Danny's shampoo?"

Laura clears her throat. "Of course not. Why would you—?"

"Because your entire side of the room _reeks_ of her," Carmilla interrupts.

Laura freezes and turns slowly to glance at Carmilla. "How..?"

"Vampire, remember?"

She sets her jaw and returns to staring determinedly at her computer screen. "Well, I happen to think she smells _great_," she mumbles.

"Is she a good kisser, too?"

Laura hesitates for just a beat too long.

Carmilla smirks. "Thought so," she says, closing her book and sitting up, then swinging her legs over the edge of her mattress and leaning toward Laura. "But I'm curious," she purrs, and doesn't continue until Laura looks her in the eye. "Which of us tasted better?"

"You kissed her?"

They both look up to find Danny standing in the doorway, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Danny! No, no, no, it's not like that," Laura insists, scrambling out of her chair. "She kissed _me_, it wasn't—"

"But you did kiss," she interrupts, throwing a hurt glare in Carmilla's direction.

Laura's shoulders sag a little. "Well—yeah, but—"

"And when exactly did that happen?"

"Right before she bit me," Laura mumbles.

Danny nods. "Awesome," she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "So that's a _thing_, huh?"

"Not to interrupt," Carmilla pipes in, "but you haven't answered my question."

"You," Laura replies with a point of her finger, "shut up." Now she sighs. "Look. You kissed me," she says to Carmilla, "and it was… wow. Then _we_ kissed," she says to Danny, "and that was pretty wow, too. Maybe I just enjoyed kissing _both_ of you, you know?" she continues, and her voice is louder now. "Has anyone considered that?"

Danny and Carmilla exchange glances.

"Like, maybe I've accidentally cultivated deep attractions to two people at the same time. It's not outlandish," she says defensively. "And honestly, if my vampiric roommate and/or fellow undergrad at a university where the library is self-aware and the floor dons are given creature training have the nerve to claim otherwise…"

"Okay, okay," Danny cuts her off, "we get it. And I guess…" she continues thoughtfully, eyeing Carmilla. "I guess… we could work something out?"

Carmilla shrugs. "I'm the one who shares a room with her," she says with a wink.

"I'm the one whose shirt she's wearing," Danny retorts.

"_Stop_," Laura snaps. "Both of you stop it right now." She takes a deep, purposeful breath. "We are going to come to a civilized agreement about this, in which nobody gets 'chosen' or hurt. Or eaten," she adds pointedly, and Carmilla rolls her eyes. "Does _anyone_ have a problem with any of that?"

Danny and Carmilla exchange glances again.

"I suppose not," Carmilla replies, examining her nails, "provided the agreement doesn't require that I kiss the giraffe."

Danny makes a face. "Like I would want to kiss you anyways, Morticia Addams."

Laura pinches the bridge of her nose. "You're both absurdly attractive, okay?" she snaps again. "If you would just accept that, it would make this whole thing a lot easier."

"Fine," Danny and Carmilla huff in unison.

"Outstanding," Laura says, rolling up the way-too-long sleeves of Danny's shirt, and when she looks into the camera again, her smile is back. "Let's lay some ground rules."

Danny shakes her head, possibly to distract them from the faint blush tinting her cheeks. "God," she mutters, "you are _stupid_ cute," and takes a seat on the edge of Laura's mattress.

Carmilla lets her head fall back against the wall with a dull thunk.


End file.
